Chapter 17: The Fall Festival, Part 1: Free Fall

A Boh, a fat possum sort of biped, stood with a microphone. "This is match for the Fall Festival. We are starting the team tournament, where each team is comprised of three members and one backup member. Each city-state is represented by four teams, but first they must engage in CIVIL WAR."

"Both teams present representing Sunnyvilla, we introduce the Ice Cream Pack, Mosor the wolf fox, Vanos the wolf coyote, and Kyofi the wolf hyena."

Despite the setbacks with Ahmond's admittedly dumb plan, the Ice Cream Pack still stood strong. However, Mosor's mood was a bit different than normal, looking more focused than normal.

"And introducing, their opponents, The Renegades, Pistyl the Twayt, Stam the Boh, and Phyll the hyena."

As the two teams walked into opposite sides of the stadium, Mosor scanned the area. It was a coliseum environment with giant grassy floors.

Mosor said, "They have two big members of their team, and one smaller member. We don't know what powers they have. Typical."

As the bell rang, Mosor ran straight for Pistyl.

Kyofi and Vanos jumped at Stam and Phyll. As they converged, Mosor swerved from Pistyl and attacked Stam too, biting down on his leg.

Stam rained blows down, but Vanos bucked him in the gut. He staggered back, only for Mosor to bite on his arm, and pull him back in for a second buck.

A ripcord kick.

Mosor jumped into the air, with a sort of scissor kick motion. She put a paw on Stam's forehead and both fell down.

Vanos bit down on Stam's tail, and yanked up, while Mosor sat on the back of his neck. Stam screamed. His fingers curled up as he extended his hand, about to tap out, about to signal a loss.

From the Twayt, purple blobs blasted down, and exploded into goo. Vanos and Mosor jumped off of Stam before getting one of the dropping offs, but the goop hit Stam.

"I'm sorry!" she said as she hit her partner.

His body turned purple from the poison, before he began puking.

Medical staff came and informed that he was out.

Phyll wrestled with Kyofi, but Kyofi was just a lot bigger than him.

He rushed at her, but she intercepted him. Both stood on their hind legs, before Kyofi shrugged him off, and threw him down. As he got back up, she lifted him, and bombed him back into the ground, making him spin away.

"Come on," Kyofi said. "I heard you were the big one of the group."

Indeed, Phyll was fat, and a bit taller than the Boh on his hind legs. However, he wasn't quite to the caliber of size Kyofi was, who stood almost a full three inches taller, due to being a female hyena instead of a male hyena. And before Phyll knew it, two more wolves were on him, biting down on him.

After Phyll tapped out, that just left the bird. She flew overhead, purple glops dropping from her body, staining the ground purple.

"If we don't want to get poisoned," Vanos said, "we need to take their supporter out while staying out from underneath her."

Mosor asked, "What are the rules?"

Vanos said, "Uh, anything goes. You get eliminated-"

"Anything goes."

The purple twayt unleashed more poison down, raining it. Vanos arched his back in the air, and Mosor jumped on his rump before jumping up. She grabbed a railing, and pulled herself into the stands.

Kyofi tossed a rock up towards the twayt, and she swayed to avoid being hit, only for Mosor to lunge for her, and put a paw on her forehead.

Audiences gasped as both fell ten feet and slammed to the ground. The bird splayed out, clearly defeated.

After the decision was made official, the announcer said, "Your winners. By defeating all other members of the team, it is the Ice Cream Pack!"

Audiences roared and cheered.

Mosor rolled over, and said, "I think we did it. We won."

"Yeah, but that was a little aggressive," Kyofi said. Usually she had been the primary fighter in the group. Watching Mosor going at someone, in such a brutal fashion, struck her as not only out of character, but a bit dangerous. However, Mosor hadn't exactly been the same after the start of the month.

Indeed, it was just one trial after the other, but at least things were going their way for once.

Mynt met them as they headed to the back. She said, "A good performance. I expect others will want to see us win this entire tournament, if at least in part due to our name."

"Or at least due to our business," Vanos said. "We're not ONLY the heroes that saved this place from the moon wolf goddess." He chuckled, and brushed his head. "Who'd be bigger upperdogs?"

"Favorites," Mosor said.

Vanos stuck his tongue out.

In the locker room, they put away the bandanas they wore for their team. Each team had a different room in the stadium for where to put their supplies, but since it was used for sports for the rest of the year, each team had a big locker room.

Vanos and Kyofi headed for the showers, but Ahmond approached Mosor. "Mosor, how have you been doing emotionally, not just physically? I saw your daredevil move. That's not like you, Mosor."

Mosor rolled her eyes. "How many fights have you seen me in?" It seemed like a weird consideration, although being asked how she felt felt... nice, like she hadn't been asked that question before. "It's overwhelming, but at the end of the month, it's not like I'll be looking back at how horrible it all was."

Ahmond went to Mynt, and Mynt explained, "Mosor's just having a tough phase right now. We all are. After all, it's not exactly common for one of us to get arrested, and to get arrested twice in a month. We have no idea what's going on."

Mosor said, "Especially since Owlis is keeping secrets. But when we win this tournament, we're going to find all those secrets out."

"How do you know?" Mynt asked.

"Winners not only win for their kingdom, they get one thing," Mosor said. "Any one thing they want. And what I want is answers."

"She could be untruthful," Mynt told Mosor, "as she already has been."

Mosor said, "Yeah, but in any case, you know who's on one team? A certain crimson, a certain violat, and a certain jackal."

"Lantorn?" Mynt asked. "Rhed and Blhu?"

"Hmph, bold of them to show up," Ahmond said. "They helped almost tear this kingdom down. What's Owlis doing, giving them more chances?"

Mosor said, "They're not registered under those names, and a crimson and a violat can easily pass as another. But regardless, when we get to them, we're going to war."

***

Whyrl walked up to the throne of Owlis. Owlis' cold eyes stared down at him.

"You wanted to talk to me?" Whyrl asked.

Owlis said, "I need to know what you were telling the two girls from the Ice Cream Pack. They said you were telling them about an incident, and I was wanting to check with you as to what incident."

"I talk to a lot of others," Whyrl said.

"If you mentioned the one about your daughter, you're risking terrorizing the integrity of the kingdom." Owlis got off the throne, and paced over to an open window. "Our kingdom is only kept in control by luck."

"That's a low opinion of our peoples," Whyrl said.

"We need a new era, something that will unite the peoples," Owlis said. "But for me to issue a new era, we need the new era to want to fight for us. Therefore, they cannot, nor can the rest of the kingdom, know about our most major failing."

"They'd forgive us," Whyrl said. "Unless they had to find out the hard way."

Owlis said, "It is easier to ask for forgiveness, isn't it?" Owlis clicked her tongue. "Never. It's never easier."

Whyrl said, "The more and more we lie to them, that means the more and more they're going to be upset when they find out the truth."

"We'll tell the truth when they're ready to hear, just as we've done before, and as we will again, and I know better than anyone to enact plans. Just follow my lead."

Whyrl said, "I will do everything you say my Empress."

Owlis grinned back at him, and he would walk off, but after his dismissal, he muttered, "And you technically didn't say I can't tell them, just that I shouldn't."

He went down into the lower levels of the palace until he reached the dungeons, and knew that Baynana had a new guard. However, no guard cared too much about their own prisoners, and he didn't see anyone next to the metal door.

"Are you in here?" he asked as he came to a cell.

"If that's you Whyrl, then we need to talk," Baynana said.

"I've got to tell you Owlis' plans about..." He heard someone walking down the hallway, their claws clicking on the concrete. "How we're going to make people wash their hands after being on the toilet."

"What are you two doing right now?" Layf the wolf walked down the corridor, and said, "Are you smuggling something to a prison, Whyrl?"

"I was just catching up with an old friend, or, well, oldish friend," Whyrl said.

Layf shook his head, and muttered, "First my team, the Renegades, lose, and now you're up to something weird."

Whyrl gave an amused grin, and said, "If no one ever did something weird, you wouldn't have been born."

Layf raised an eyebrow and the witty Whyrl walked past him. "Anyway, it seems we're going to have a paddling to attend to."

He opened the door, but dark lines entered him. Layf dropped to the ground, feelings of worthlessness filling him, before Baynana jumped onto his body, and jumped off, after Whyrl, figuring they needed to talk asap.

Whyrl stared as the yellow wolf hopped over to him.

"I'm ready for business, what is it you've still got to tell?"

Whyrl said, "I guess I should tell you about the ritual, and about how my daughter ended up losing her dark quality, and how I lost my heart."